SoundLink Flex (1st Gen)

Got mine for $80 apiece (the non-mic version) at Sams Club - bought 2 for stereo and am an audiophile and the sound quality is decent, however the connection app is very dysfunctional.

I got bose flex (1st gen) , pretty good. Just bought a Marshall acton iii, and the bose is no shame at all compared to that. Of course Marshall fills the room with and of course goes 10-20 Hz lower, so you can distinguish drum kicks better in rock music for example. So still like the Bose Flex as portable Bt speaker.

I tried several models during my search - Bose SL Flex (1 Gen), UE Hyperboom 4 and B&O Explore. The Bose by far sounded the best (out of the box - there’s no EQ) then the others (with EQ). I believe the 1st Gen can get a bit lower bass than Gen 2. If you can get a refurbished gen 1 direct from Bose it’s a pretty good price! If you get a pair I’m sure it will sound even better. I enjoy EDM and beats that have a bit more thump. Obviously the low, lows won’t produce in this size of speaker but the mid thumps are definitely there. For the size, the Bose (IMO) is the best sounding.

The Bose SL Plus will likely be a solid fit for you as Bose has a pretty balanced sound, out of the box. Not sure if you’re looking for indoor v outdoor but you might look into getting two SL Flex and setting them up in stereo mode. They sound incredible.

you are the minority that says luna is better. I am trying to select between soundlink flex 2 and luna and couldn't decide it yet. Currently I have bose soundlink flex 1 and I am quite happy about it however I am wondering if luna is better

kinda same here, I am ex bose soundlink flex 1 gen user for more 1 year. Due to technical issues I sent to warranty and they going to sent my money back. I like to wamth and feely bass on bose and durability was a plus for me however I am considering the trade durability with some more accurate sound on H/K luna. Probably I'll go with the luna.

I used in hikes it was sufficient however if you need extra voluma at outdoors and clarity you should go with flip series of jbl

I agree as well. I have 2 of the 1st Gen Bose Flex speakers and I use them in stereo mode most of the time. Using the app to pair the speakers in stereo is a PITA. I almost always pair the speakers by pushing the sequence of buttons manually.

I get it, but the professional reviews I have read indicate that the Emberton plays in stereo. No it's not the true separate 2 speakers which we all identify as stereo. But using the Emberton for a few years on the center island in the kitchen is great b/c it has sound projecting from both front and back of the speaker. I also have 2 1st gen Bose SL Flexes that can play in stereo. Although using Bose's app to set the speakers up in stereo mode is a PITA, using the push-button sequence to set them up in stereo is very reliable.

The JBL Charge 6 for $130 (regularly $200) is a great deal. It also might be worth considering the Charge 6 if you might purchase another JBL speaker in the future, where you can connect compatible JBL speakers with AuraCast. I own 2 of the 1st gen Bose SL Flex speakers. I listen to the Flexes in stereo almost all the time, I prefer more of a balanced sound (The Charge is not bad by any means, it's definitely capable of producing more bass). I have read the Flex 2s have less bass than the 1st gen Flex - that might eliminate them from consideration. I like the sound quality of the Flex 1s, they are not for everyone, plus the 1st gen Flex doesn't have an EQ - but I am good with their sound quality OOTB. The Charge is going to be more advanced with a 7 band EQ versus the Flex 2 only has a 3 band EQ. One thing about Bose, their app to connect speakers together can be unstable and a PITA. I almost always connect the Flexes with the pushbutton sequence instead, and that seems to work very well. I put up with this for now, but I am probably going to switch over to JBL, Sony, or something else in the future. Also gotta mention the Marshall Emberton II as well. It's going for $90 during BF weekend. I bought the 1st gen Emberton a few years ago on sale as well. I alternate between the Emberton and the 2 Bose Flex. Plus the Emberton has a great soundstage since it plays in stereo and has speakers front and back. If you wanted an absolute steal, I would echo what a few people mentioned below, the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 is going for $100, regular price $500. The downfall is it's not really a portable speaker and it's not water or dust proof, but the sound quality is damn good. And with that I will stop, Good, luck, and enjoy the new speaker.

I like both the Emberton and the Flex. I have both of these 1st gen speakers. still like them both. But when I pair 2 of the Flexes in Stereo Mode, they sound so damn good.

I’m aware that there are several other posts sharing the same, but I wanted to offer my own thoughts on the Sonos Play after having owned it for 24 hours. **TL;DR:** I absolutely love the Sonos Play and would recommend it to anyone. **Sound Quality**: The Play sounds great overall. I struggle to describe sound in written form, but I think if you asked the average person, they’d say that the Play sounds “good” at worst. I’m no audiophile, but I can appreciate good audio when I hear it. If anything, the Play exceeds my expectations for sound in this small of a package. The bass, mids, and highs are all present and sound well-balanced to me. This thing can get LOUD as well. When listening to it right next to me during the daytime, I’m only comfortable listening at about 30% or 40% volume before it starts to sound loud enough to disturb my neighbors. 50% or 60% volume is already in the *very loud* territory for me. **Sound Quality Comparisons:** To start off, I have a Sonos Roam 2 and a Sonos Move 2, so I feel confident in being able to speak between the 3 (Roam, Move, Play). I’ve seen many questions asking about how the Play compares to the Move or the Roam, sound-wise. There’s nothing that interesting to report here; the Play sounds better than the Roam but worse than the Move. The Move is way bigger and more capable than the Play, so of course it sounds better. The Play is way bigger and more capable than the Roam, so of course it sounds better. The Play sounds roughly 60% as good as the Move, and maybe two or three times as good as the Roam. This is a compliment, to be clear. **Design:** The design of the Play is great overall. I like that they made the top and back portions rubberized and contoured. This means that interacting with the buttons or holding the device feels nice in your hand/fingers. The loop on the back provides a nice option to hang the device as well. At a weight of 2.87 lbs (1.3 kg), it’s just a *bit* heavier than I’d want it to be. For a park day, I think it’s perfect, but for air travel, I’m not sure how I feel about adding nearly 3 lbs of weight into my backpack or luggage. I’ll get into usage comparisons to the Roam 2 and Move 2 later on in this review. **Price:** At $299.00 USD, this feels a bit pricey to me. I’m happy to pay this much as I really like Sonos, but I can see how the average consumer may be turned off by the price here. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but I feel like $249.00 would have been a killer price point. With that said, Sonos is selling the Move 2 for $499 and the Roam 2 for $179. $299 for the Play does seem like a somewhat fair middle point in comparison to the other two devices. **Size, Weight, & Usage Comparisons:** I’ve seen Sonos and various reviewers describe the Play as a “Goldilocks” speaker which fills a gap between the Roam and the Move. Frankly, that description feels perfectly accurate. At a weight of 2.87 lbs (1.3 kg), the Play is substantially lighter and smaller than the Move 2 at 6.61 lbs (3 kg). For me, the Move 2 was just a complete pain to move around casually. I don’t want to feel like I’m lifting a dumbbell every time I want to pick up the speaker. For that reason, the Move 2 rarely ever left its dock. The Play feels plenty light enough to pick up and move around the house. Compared to the Roam 2 at 0.95 lbs (0.43 kg), the Play is obviously much heavier (about 3x as heavy). I mentioned this earlier, but the Play is a bit heavy for my liking when thinking about taking this on a plane. I’d rather take the Roam 2 and sacrifice some sound quality for a much lighter package. The Play (7.57 x 4.43 x 3.02 inches = 101.28 cubic inches) is also ridiculously smaller than the Move 2 (9.49 x 6.3 x 5 inches = 298.94 cubic inches). It’s roughly 1/3 of the size, and that is super noticeable day-to-day. I always felt like the Move 2 was simply too big and heavy to actually be considered portable. Compared to the Roam 2 (6.61 x 2.44 x 2.36 inches = 38.06 cubic inches), the Play is roughly 2.66x bigger. **Usage Summary:** Roam = *hyper portable*, best suited towards filling a bathroom with sound and for air travel. Play = somewhat portable, small and light enough to move from room to room (or taking this to the park or outside or wherever) without a hassle. Can work for air travel if you’re OK with some extra size and weight in your backpack or luggage (personally, I won’t be doing this). *Jack-of-all-trades, master of none (in a good way!).* Move = *huge and heavy, but delivers with extremely impressive and powerful sound.* Just heavy and big enough to give you a second thought before you pick it up with all of its 6.61 lbs of weight. Car travel is fine for this, but I don’t see how anyone is just sticking this in a backpack or luggage for air travel. **Usage Conclusion:** I’ll be selling my Move 2 and keeping the Play (as well as my Roam 2). I find that the Play is a lot more practical for my own taste. I don’t require the power and hugely impressive sound of the Move 2, and I dislike how big and heavy it is. For bigger spaces or people who require massive sound, the Move 2 is of course a great choice. If you live in a smaller space (like I do) and on average listen at slightly lower volumes, I feel that the Play is more than capable. **Questions & Last Thoughts:** *If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments.* I will do my best to respond and hope that this review + my comments will help you decide on a purchase or how the Play compares to the Roam and Move.

>I don't have a roam but have read terrible reviews. I'm curious how the Play compares to something like the bose soundlink flex gen 2 (rated better than the roam 2) and other such similar sized and popular bluetooth speakers. I feel like the Roam 2 is a bit over-hated. To be fair, I did have connectivity issues with the original Sonos Roam and got rid of it, but I’ve been relatively happy with my Roam 2. I think the Roam 2 cleaned up a lot of issues with the original one. The Roam 2 is really quite small and light, and I feel like for its size it sounds pretty good to me. It really depends on what you’re expecting out of it and/or what you’re comparing it to. And yes, the Soundlink Flex may be rated by some as better than the Roam 2, but I don’t feel that’s an apples-to-apples comparison (due to the smart capabilities & Sonos ecosystem benefits of the Roam 2). As far as the most common Bose bluetooth speakers, the two closest in size to the Play (101.28 cubic inches) are either the Soundlink Flex 2 (7.93 x 3.56 x 2.06 = 58.16 cubic inches) or the Soundlink Plus (11.17 x 4.11 x 3.4 = 156.09 cubic inches). The Soundlink Flex 2 is about 53% bigger than the Roam (38.06 cubic inches), yet only 57% as big as the Play. The Soundlink Plus is about 54% bigger than the Play. I actually used to have a Soundlink Flex (1st gen), and I really liked it. Sound-wise it’s pretty impressive for its relatively small size. Again following the trend of bigger devices producing better sound, the Soundlink Flex sounds better than the Roam (in my opinion) but worse than the Play. I still feel like the Play (and Roam and Move) are tricky to compare with pretty much all other “standard” bluetooth speakers. To me, Sonos is in a league of its own with WiFi, Airplay, and grouping capabilities. If I bought any standard bluetooth speaker, it’s mostly a stand-alone speaker. Whereas I can group my Roam with my Play and with my Beam (soundbar) to fill multiple rooms with audio. I genuinely struggle to compare something like a Bose bluetooth speaker with the offerings inside of the Sonos ecosystem. The only use case I can see where it makes sense to compare the two is if the Play is your only Sonos speaker and you have zero intentions to ever have an 2nd (or more) speaker as part of your Sonos ecosystem. At which point, yeah you probably shouldn’t buy a Sonos in general (in my opinion). >Play can be laid horizontally on its back (with the utility loop down). Automatic Trueplay will tune the audio for that position. >can you try this? how does it sound, I think it'd be done if the speaker is placed in the middle of the room as opposed to the edge Thanks for the heads-up! I wasn’t aware of this. Good to know. I just tried it for the first time and can confirm that it sounds great in this mode. Auto trueplay is pretty cool!

Can't complain, it sounds good. I use it in a little home gym room.